Patrol aims to protect streets
SECURITY MAN HOPES TO BRING HIS SCHEME TO TOON
“NEWCASTLE this year – that’s the plan”.
That’s the message from John ‘Winky’ Watson, the 16st ex-army boxer behind controversial security ‘street patrols.’
Amid police cuts, Teesside residents have turned to John to keep them safe – paying as little as £13-a-year for his protection.
He’s amassed thousands of customers who have praised him for getting results, although an MP raised concerns at his practices.
But with business booming, John’s plan is to now move into Tyneside by the end of 2019.
“I looked at the crime rate in Newcastle and I was shocked,” said John.
“Some parts are really bad for crime. I’d put an office up there, have about four cars and have nightly patrols.”
John said there’s been little interest in patrols for Durham, although claimed there’s been a clamour from Tyneside residents for his services.
His firm, John Watson Security, has cars carrying out patrols across huge parts of Teesside.
And it is moving North. This week, he was filmed in Hartlepool as part of the C4 show Skint Britain.
He insists he is NOT a replacement for the police, who he has a “excellent” working
John ‘Winky’ Watson relationship with. Instead, John sees himself as a deterrent who can often be at the scene first to nip crime in the bud. “Our response time is 15 minutes – I’m not better than the police, but I can be there before them,” he said. “But what we do is just move those involved along and we are enough. When we arrive, they don’t carry on. “I’ve been going a year, and we haven’t had any problems.
“But if it got out of hand, I’d just call the police.”
The firm’s rapid expansion has created jobs and resulted in thousands of customers and, to date, 44 businesses.
The success means John’s now offering more bespoke packages, rather than the initial basic £13-a-year service.
He’s dealt with everything from stolen puppies to smashed windows, with customers praising him for working “for the good of the community”.
It even landed him on ITV’s Good Morning Britain – however, Labour MP Anna Turley previously said she was worried “vulnerable people are feeling obliged to pay for protection because they have no faith the law is being upheld”.
She blamed police cuts for customers flocking to John.
But the businessman also hit out at cuts at the police, who he sympathised with.
“This isn’t their fault - but I’m just filling the gap,” he said.
Northumbria Police declined to comment.